Sir David Attenborough and the pink iguana (Picture: Robert Hollingworth/Freud Communications/PA)

An ultra-rare reptile only discovered in recent years will appear on camera for the first time in Sir David Attenborough’s new series filmed in the Galapagos Islands.

The pink iguana, dubbed the ‘Penny Black’ of the natural world by Sir David, has never before been seen on screen.

The Conolophus Marthae iguana, which lives in burrows on the crater rim of Wolf Volcano, was filmed on the island of Isabela last year.

‘It’s a remarkable thing in this day and age when you think about the number of scientists per square metre in the Galapagos, and yet suddenly we have discovered a new species,’ Sir David said.

‘A little periwinkle or something which nobody has identified before, is one thing, but this is more than that, it’s a large pink iguana.

‘I used to collect stamps, and this was a Penny Black of the natural world in a very big way.’

The iguana was filmed during Sir David’s Sky series Galapagos 3D, which begins today.

Anthony Geffen, the executive producer of the series, said: ‘When he finally came face-to-face with the iguana it was just one of the most extraordinary moments that I’ve ever experienced: here was the world’s greatest naturalist coming face-to-face with a new species. In the footsteps of Charles Darwin but almost 200 years later, David Attenborough was capturing the rare species on film for the first time.’

The Sky series coincided with the death of Lonesome George, who was believed to be the last giant tortoise from the island of Pinta.

‘I can’t say I was surprised but I was saddened when the news came two weeks after we’d filmed our interview,’ Sir David, who visited the Galapagos for his acclaimed Life On Earth series in 1978, said.